International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)

Financial audits can inspire apprehension, but a rigorous, thorough, high-quality audit is crucial in helping a business to meet its goals and expectations. Multidisciplinary firms, offering audit alongside other services, are proving to be invaluable as technology renders businesses’ situations and requirements more complicated. But regulators aren’t as convinced that they are up to the task. What is the case for the multidisciplinary model in the increasingly complex Information Age?

Although the GDPR—designed to augment consumers’ data protection and privacy—is the brainchild of the Council of the European Union and European Parliament, its reach extends far beyond Europe. In the United States, it is no longer a choice but a must for financial firms to adopt stricter consumer-data-protection measures. The costs of not doing so far outweigh the costs of compliance; regulators expect data security, and so do customers.